The present invention relates generally to a fiber optic contact and, more particularly, to a unique alignment sleeve for the ferrule of a fiber optic contact.
In many fiber optic connectors, a special guide block is mounted in one half of the connector assembly which contains precisely dimensioned fiber optic ferrule alignment bores or sleeves. Such fiber optic connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,182 and our co-pending application Ser. No. 377,302, filed May 12, 1982, entitled "Fiber Optic Contact Retention Assembly."
It is desirable to have a fiber optic ferrule and alignment device therefore which may be incorporated into a standard electrical connector without altering the connector structure. Thus, it is not possible in such situations to utilize a special guide block for aligning the mating ferrules in the connector. It is, therefore, desirable to have an alignment sleeve mounted directly on the end of one of the mating fiber optic ferrules of the connector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,619 discloses a fiber optic connector in which one ferrule of each mating pair has a plastic alignment sleeve mounted on its forward end by friction. However, because the mating ferrules have an interference fit with the plastic sleeve and the plastic is subject to creep, it is possible that the sleeve will become loose after a large number of matings of the ferrules in the sleeve, or removals of the sleeve from one of the ferrules to clean the end face thereof. Furthermore, with such a plastic sleeve, as in other prior art cylindrical alignment sleeves, it is possible for wear particles produced within the sleeve by numerous matings and unmatings of the connector to become deposited upon the mating end faces of the mating ferrules when they are inserted into the opposite ends of the sleeve resulting in light transmission losses.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an alignment sleeve for the ferrule of a fiber optic contact which cannot be inadvertently removed from the ferrule during normal usage, and which is designed in such a fashion to substantially reduce the amount of dust or other particles which may become deposited upon the end faces of the mating ferrules in the sleeve.